molean



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1. A. Mo'LEAN.

TENTERING MACHINE. No. 315,809. Patented A r. 14, 1885.

WITNESSES: mwmoa:

ATTORNEYS (No ModeL) 4 Sheet'sSheet 2. A. MQLEAN.

TENTERING MACHINE.

' Patented Apr. 14, 1885.

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS WITNESSES N. PETLRS. mou-Luh u ner. Washmglun. n. c.

(No Model.) 4Sheets-Sheet 3. A. MOLBAN.

TENTERING MACHINE. No. 315,809. Patented Apr. 14, 1885.

' i mvamon:

ATTORNEYS.

4 SheetsSheet 4. A. McLE'AN.

TENTERING MACHINE.

(No Model.)

No. 315,809. Patnted Apr. 14, 1885.

INVENTOR %C M ATTORNEYS WITNESSES N FETERS mmwuhn nmm. Washmgmn n, c.

NiTn STATES ANDREW MCLEAN, OF NEl/V YORK, X. Y.

TENTERlNG-MACHINE.

SPECIFICALION forming part of Letters Patent No. 315,809, April 14,1885.

Application filed January 30, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ANDREW hiCLEAN, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented a new and Improved Tentering-Ma chine, of whichthe following is a full, ciear,and exact description.

My invention consists in the construction and combination of parts, aswill he hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ofthis specification, in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved tentering'machine shown appliedto a dryingmachine, a part only of the drying-machine being shown. Fig.2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of thetentering-machine. Fig. 4 is mainly a sectional ele vation taken in theline a: m of Fig. 2, showing the construction of the guide-roller, someof the parts, however, being shown in elevation. Fig. 5 is a sectionalelevation of the guideroller, taken on the liney y of Fig. i. Fig. 6 isan end elevation of one of the feeding and stretching wheels and itshead-pieces support removed from the machine. Fig. 7 is asection of thesame, taken on the line z z of Fig. 6, parts being shown in elevation.Fig. 8 is a side elevation of one of the segment-plates composing theouter circumference of the preferred form of feeding and stretchingwheel, and Fig. 9 is a front elevation showing a modification of thepower-transmitting mechanism used with solid feeding and stretchingwheels.

M is the frame of the machine, in which are journaled the plain rollersA B G, guide-roller D, plain front roller, E, and regulating-roller F,all arranged in the same horizontal plane, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Oneach side of the regulating-roller F a stretchingwheel, G, is placed,which stretching wheels are arranged obliquely to the saidregulating-roller. Mot-ion is communicated to the rollers E F andstretching-wheels G G,in the construction shown in Figs. 1 to S, fromthe shaft D of the roller D. The said rollers A, B, G, D,E-, and F, andfeeding and stretching wheels G G, to-

gether with said shaft D and shafts H, I, J, K, and L, (employed inrevolving the regulatingroller F and feeding and stretching wheels Gfrom said shaft D,) are all journaled in or supported by the frame M,made a part of or situated in front of the ordinary drying-machine,which latter consists, in this instance, of the large steam-heatedcylinders or drums M, (three being showm) which are adapted to berevolved by suitable power, (notshowin) and which in this instance,through gears m m,secured to the drums or asles thereof, and the pinionsrub, a, (l, and a, secured, respectively, upon the gudgeons or shafts ofthe rollers A, B, C, D, and E, impart motion directly or indirectly toall of the operative part-s of the tentering-niachine.

The pinions a, b, 0, (Z, and e are differentially made that is, thepinion or having a less nu mber of teeth than I), and the pinion b aless number of teeth than c, and so on throughout the series-so that therollers A, B, C, D, and D have differential motion, the roller A hav ingthe greatest speed, which differential motion causesthe rollers to exerta stretching ac tion upon the web of cloth when passing through themachine in the direction of the length of the web, providing the rollersselected should be all of the same circumference; but differentcircumferential sizes of rollers may be used, and as their surface isthe controlling inlluence in stretching the cloth the gears may bearranged so as to suit the circumferences of the rollers that may beused, but so that there shall be a gain of surface motion to each rolleras the cloth advances over them to the drying-machine or otherapparatus.

The guide-roller D is a skeleton roller composed of the slats d, securedat their ends to the edges of the circular headplates d" (i secured uponthe shaft- D of the said roller, as shown clearly in Figs. 1 and i, andsurrounding the roller D are the sliding guide rings or rims D which arefor the selvages of cloth to run on when desired. The slats (l are cutaway at their edges to form the slots dflthrough which the radial arms hof the guide-rings D" pass, and in which the said arms move when thesaid guide rings or rims D are slid to or from each other to suit thewidth of the cloth. The guide rings or rims D are by preference castintegral with the said radial arms 71- and Lil tions, with a shaft, f,

' ing the selvages of the cloth at withthe centralsleeves, h, whichlatter fitloosely upon the shaft D, sothey may slide easily, and therings or rims in this instance are adapted to be slid simultaneously toand from each other by the shaft D, by means of the right and left handscrew-threads h it cut thereon, with which the guide rings or rims D areconnected by the nuts k h and curved yokes h h, which latter fit in thecircumferential grooves k if, made in the guide-rims D as will. beunderstood from Figs. 4 and 5.

The regulating-roller F is made in four secpassing lengthwise throughits center, to which the sections and its pinion k are affixed, and theshaft f is journaled in the supports f f, bolted upon the bar N, asshown, or the shaft f may be supported in any equivalent manner. Theroller F receives motion from shaft K through pinion it placed thereonmeshing with. pinion it placed upon shaft L, which latter pinion mesheswith the pinion k affixed to the shaft f of the said regulating-rollerF.

The two feeding and stretching wheels G Gare arranged at the ends of theregulating-roller F, and; are independent thereof, and are-for feedtherequired speed, and also for stretching the goods to the requisitewidth, and for this latter purpose.

are placed at angles or obliquely in the machine, and are each providedwith the pinpoints g, to which the selvage edges of the cloth are firstfed by the attendants. The wheels G .G are duplicates of are held .uponthe bar N by the gndgeonblocks 0 O and head-pieces Q Q, and are adaptedto be slid to and from each other upon said bar N to suit the width ofthe cloth.

\ The said wheels G G are also adapted to be chine, to increase ordiminish adjusted vertically and also with reference to their degree ofangle or obliquity in the matheir stretching action on the width ofcloth, and in one form they are made sectional and adapted to beexpanded and contracted circumferentially,

so as to feed more or less selvages of cloth, at

. each revolution tosecure an even parallel or square movement of theopposite selvages of the cloth through the machine, while in anotherform they are made solid or non.-expansive, in which lattercase eachside is provided with cone-pulleys, as in Fig. 9, to vary speed ofeither side,

The bar N, which is supported upon the bracketN and beveled at itsedges, is the main support of the head-pieces Q Q and stretchingwheels GG and the gudgeon-blooks 0 O, which latter are dovetailed upon the barN, and constitute the intermediate support for the said wheels, andthese blocks 0, 0 are screw-tapped with right and left handscrewthre'ads to receive the similar screw-threads out upon the shaft1?, which is adapted to be easily turned by applying the hand toany partof the screw-rod or to a hand-wheel each other, and 1 as required, tofeed the, selvages square and even and at proper speed.

fixed thereon for moving the wheels G G simultaneously to or from eachother,

Q Q, Figs. 6 and 7, are the headpiecesjournaled upon the verticalgndgeons 0, projecting upward from the gudgeon-blocks O O, and to theends of these head-pieces Q Q are secured, by the bolts 9' j, (seeFigs.2, 3, 6, 7, and 9,) the journal-plates ER, in which the wheels G G,through the medium of the trunnions i and spindle to be presentlydescribed, take their bearings, and these journal-plates R R are madevertically adjustable by means of the slotsi 2' made therein, throughwhich the bolts j j pass, so that by loosening the said bolts j thewheels G G may be raised or lowered, as required, and the head-pieces QQare each provided with one or more set-.

screws, Z, which act against the upright gndgeons of the blocksO 0, sothat by loosening these set-screws the wheels G G may be turned or swungto any angle desired, or as circumstances require, and there held byturning up the said set-screws Z.

As above mentioned, the feeding and stretch ing wheels G G may be madesolid or non-ex pansive, or in sections, and so as to be adapted to beexpanded or contracted circumferentially. The latter form of wheels areby preference each constructed, as shown in Figs. 6, 7, and 8, of theinner cone-shaped hollow suitably grooved for arms k to slide in,surrounding segmental plates 9 I annular back plate, 9", screwed to thecone-shaped hollow casting g for holding arms k and segmental plates ginplace, and large coiled or circumferential spring 9 for holding thesegmental plates 9 in place by passing the spring over the knob k oneach segment, thus forming a circular coil of spring pressing eachsegment toward the center of thewheel, as hereinafter Lil casting,g

IOO

described, and as will be understood from Fig.

7.v Thesegmcntal plates are each formed asshown in Fig. Sand describedbelow. The hollow cone-shaped casting g is formed at the base with theradial -slots or ways i, and at the smaller or apex end with the hollowtrunnion i'flwhich runs in one of the journal-plates Rand in the hollowtrunnion t is fixed the spindlej,

' which runs in the other journal-plate R, and

this spindlej has placed upon it i j and adj usting-nut 1' for thepurposes herein- 4 after described. The segment-plates g in thisinstance have a serrated or ribbed crown three-fourths inch wide, andare each stepped with three steps one-fourth inch wide and 'onefourthinch deep, the bottom step-being onehalfinch wide, which constitute fourdiameters on which to feed the selvages of cloth at more or less speed,and may have less or more steps, and are each provided upon the outer,curved surface with the above-mentioned pin-points g, placed aboutone-fourth inch apart circumferentially, or more or less steps beprovided with pin-points g. The crown of the plate (shown in Fig. 8) isformed with the serrations or ribs it to be used instead of the pinthecone-nut points 9 for we g e cloth upon the serrated or rihtued suriareas occasion may require. The segment-plates are also formed or providedwith the arms k" and the former being adapted to fit in the radial slotsor ways 2" ofthc coneshaped casting g, the latter to have theabove-mentioned coiled spring 9 placed over the knobs k secured to saidarms for holding the segmental plates g in their proper places and fordrawing them inward, so that the inner beveled ends of the arms is willrestin contact with the beveled end of the conenut j. The armsk" are ofcourse all ofa size and length, so that the outer surfaces of the platesg, when all of them are in place and held by the spring 9 constitute aperfect circle. The cone-nut j is in this instance feathered upon anenlarged portion of the spindle f, as shown in Fig. 7, and is adapted toslide upon the said spindle, and the said nut is chambered andinternally screw-threaded at its rear or larger end, as shown at i, toreceive the externally-screwthreaded portion fofthe abovementionedadjusting-nut j", so that by turning this nutj to the right or left thecone-nut j will be accordingly forced inward or drawn out-ward. Ifforced inward toward the cavity of the cone-shaped casting 9", theconical end of the nut j will act equally upon all of the beveled endsof the arms and force all of the segmental plates 9 outward equally,thus enlarging or expanding the circumference of the wheel G. Uponwithdrawing the coneshaped nut j the segmental plates 9" will all bedrawn inward by the action of the spring g as the nut j recedes, thuscontracting the circumference of the said wheel G, the effect of whichis that as it is enlarged or contracted a greater or less amount ofselvage of cloth is fed as maybe required at each revolution.

To prevent all danger of the adjusting-nuts turning of their own accordfrom the jar of the machine or otherwise, I form upon the outer surfacesof the cone shaped nuts j the notches c, and provide the nuts j with thespring-friction pawls e", which run in contact with the outer surfacesof the cone-shaped nuts and engage with the notches e therein withsufficient force to retain the nuts, but not so but that the nuts 3' maybe readily turned by hand for quickly expanding or contracting thestretching-wheels G without stopping the machine, and I place thecollars in upon the spindles j", as shown clearly in Figs. 1, 3, and 7,for holding the coneshaped nntj and adjusting-nut j properly in placeupon their spindles, the latter nut being free to rotate on saidspindle.

The sectional feeding and stretching wheels G G are both revolvedindirectly from the drying-rollers, as described, and directly from thesame shaft I, Fig. 3, by the endless chains S S, which pass over thesprocket-wheels p p and 1) p secured, respectively, upon the spindles jand the said shaft I.

As above stated, the tenteringmachine is inginachine.

not in this instance driven by a separate inotive power, but is drivenfrom the gear at of the drying-machine, and in the arrangement shown theguide-roller D or the shaft D thereof is the drive roller or shaft ofthe tenter- These being revolved through the train of gearing connectingthem with the large gear in upon the first drying cylinder or drumM,impart motion to shaft H through the endless chain H,which passes oversprockct-whccls q and g, secured, respectively, upon shafts H and D. Theshaft H imparts motion to the shaft J through belt T and cone-pulleys sand s, secured, respectively, upon the said shafts, and the shaft Jimparts motion to the shaft 1, through the endless chain I, which passesover the sprocket-wheels t t, secured, respectively, upon the shafts Iand J, and the shaft 1 in turn,throngh the said endless chains S S andsprocket-wheels p p and p 1;,imparts motion to the feeding andstretching wheels G G, as just stated; and the shaft H also drives theshaft K by the belt K, which passes over the cone-pulleys w and '10, andthe shaft K, as above stated, imparts motion to intermediate gear, it,and regulating-roller F through the gear-wheels or pinions 7:, 7t, and70 The solid or non-expanding feeding and stretching wheels G G are alsostepped with three steps, more or less, and provided with the pinpointsg on one or more steps, as shown in Fig. 9, and may or may not beserrated or ribbed on their crowns. \Vhen these solid or non-expandingwheels are used, they are not both revolved from the same shaft,as thesectional-wheels in Fig. 3 are, but are revolved, as shown in Fig. 9, byseparate mechanism, consisting, in this instance, in addition to theshaft H, (which is the same in both Figs. 3 and 9,) and the othern'iechauisrn described for transmitting motion thereto from shaft D, ofthe two upper short shafts, U U, Fig. 9, which are revolved from shaft Hby belts V V passing over cone-pulleys a u and u it,secured,respectively, upon said shafts H and U, and the two lower shafts, UU,which are revolved from the upper short shafts, U U, by the endlesschains \V \V, which pass over suitable sprocket-wheels a a, secured uponsaid upper and lower shafts, as shown in said Fig. 9. The two feedingand stretching wheels G G are revolved by the endless chains S S passingover suitable sproclcetwheels, p p,secured to the shafts of said wheelsG G, and over sprocket wheels p 11, secured upon said shafts U U, whilethe regulatingroller F receives its motion from shaft K, as described,the same as in Fig. 8. By shifting either of the belts V V upon theeone-pulleys u a the speed of revolution of either of the feeding andstretching wheels G G may be increased or diminished, as desired, forregulating the speed of feeding the selvages of cloth as required.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the speed of thestretching-wheels may be regu- The operation of the machine is asfollows:

The cloth to be run through the machine is placed in a box or othersuitable receptacle, or

maybe previously wound on rollers and placed near the floor under wheelsG, Fig. 2, at a suitable distance from the machine, so that the clothwill, in its course up to the feeding and stretching wheels G, be on aconvenient slant tosuit the attendants. The cloth to be stretched anddried will be started in this instance in the machine by means of a cordattached to the cloth and passed first over the regulating-roller F,then under the roller E, then over the guide-roller D, then under theroller 0, and so on over and under alternate rollers throughout thetentering-machine, and also over and-under alternate drying cylinders ordrums M throughout the drying-machine, the goods being thus properlyplaced in the machine. Some fabrics of cloth, owing to their texture,&c., in passing through the tentering-machine have a tendency to runslack at their selvages after leaving wheels G G and while passing underand over rollers E and D. In such cases the guide rims or rings D of'theguide-roller D will be slid to suit the width of the cloth, or so asthat a strip of selvage one to three-quarters of an inch in width oneach side of cloth passes on the sloping portion of rim or rings D; butif the fabric is such that there will be no tendency of.

the selvage edges to run slack, then in this case the guide rims orrings D are slid apart, so that they will be clear of the passage of thecloth altogether, which sliding of rims or rings D is done by turningthe shaft D by the crank or hand wheel upon'one end of the shaft D Thefeeding and stretching wheels G G are also slid to or from each other byturning the shaftP to bring them nearly up to the proper width of thecloth, and they are set to a greater or less angle with each other, orwith the center line of the machine, according to the amount of sidewisestretch it may be desired to give the cloth,this adjustment beingeffected by turning the head-pieces Q Q upon the gudgeons of blocks 0 0.This done, the machine will be set in motion by starting the motivepower (not shown.) attached to one of the drying cylinders or drums M,which will revolve the same and draw the cloth along through thetentering-machine, and also through the drying-machine. There will be anattendant stationed at each wheel G G, and as the cloth enters thetentering-machine over the roller F the attendants will place theselvage edges.

farthest apart or to the side of the wheels opposite to where the clothis fed, so that owing to the angular or oblique arrangement of thewheels G G they will exert a powerful stretching action upon the widthof the goods, while the differential movement of the surfaces of therollers of the tentering-machi-ne, as above stated, exerts a powerfulstretching action upon the cloth in the direction of its length as itpasses from roller to roller, so that the cloth in passing through thetentering-machine is properly stretched in all directions.

WVhcn in operation, it is often found that one edge of the cloth entersthe tentering-machine more rapidly than or gets ahead of the other. Inthis case if the sectional stretching"- wheels are used the attendantwill apply his hand to'the adjusting-nutj at the side of the machinewhere the goods move too fast, and turn it so as to withdraw thecone-nut jflwhich will contract the size of the stretching-wheel G atthat side of the machine, and thus feed a less quantity of selvage andstraighten or square the goods-so they will feed even in the machine. Ifthe solid or non-expansive feed and stretching wheels are used, he willshift one of the belts V to the right or left upon the cone-pulleys u uby belt-guides (not shown) to increase or diminish the speed of one ofthe solid stretching-wheels G G, as required,and thus by retarding theedge of the goods which move too rapidly, or increasing the speed of theedge which moves too slowly, cause the selvages of the goods to enterthe machine evenly.

The object of the crown and three steps with pin-points on the differentsteps of Wheels G G is that if the selvages from any cause gettemporarily out ofsquare the attendant on the side that the selvage getsahead may feed on either of' the lower steps of less diameter until thecloth gets square, when feeding will be resumed on the upper row ofpin-points, while the attendant may, on the side that selvage getsbehind, feed on the crown above the pin-points on the serrated or ribbedportion, which by its greater diameter will feed in more cloth until thecloth becomes square and even.

If it is found that the body of the cloth between the selvages moves toofast ortoo slow, which movement is governed by the friction of the clothin contact with roller F, the attendant will shift the belt K to theright or left by belt-guides (not shown) upon the conepulleys w w toincrease or diminish the'speed of the regulating-roller F. By thusdecreas ing the motion of roller F if the body of cloth moves ahead ofselvages, or increasing the motion of roller 1* if the body of clothlags behind the selvages, the body of the cloth is so regulated that itshall run even and square across its width.

Vhcn it is desired to change from one width of cloth to another, theroller F may be lifted out of the machine, when wheels G G are slid tothe required distance apart. Duplicates of roller F of different lengthsto suit widths of cloth are provided, and when wheels G G are set to therequired width a roller of the width required is set in place of theone'lifted out.

In case the pinpoints g are not used, or partly used, in the feeding andstretching wheels G, the attendant may feed the edges of the cloth uponthe crown or circumferential serrations or teeth i which will in ameasure retain the edges of the cloth, and thus cause the goods to bestretched in their width to a limited extent. In other cases the crownmay be plain and the serrations or ribs may be dis pensed with, whenless strain on the cloth edges will suit.

The pinion c is made movable upon the shaft of the roller 0, as shown indotted lines in Fig. 1, so that when shifted out of engagement with thepinions d d the main operative parts of the tentering-machine will notbe revolved by positive power, but by the frictional contact with therollers of the wet or starched cloth being drawn through the machine bythe cylinders of the drying-machine, which will exerta more or lesspowerful lengthwise stretching action upon the cloth, as may be desired,than when positive motion is used.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. The combination, with the guide-roller andregulating-roller, and means for rcvolvi ng the same, of the obliquelyand independently arranged stretching and feeding wheels G G, atopposite ends of said regulating-roller, and mechanism, substantially asdescribed, for increasing or diminishing the speed of the saidstretching wheels either simultaneously or separately, as set forth.

2. The rollers F E D, and means for revolving the same, in combinationwith the obliquelyarranged stretching and feeding wheels G G, spindle j,sprocketwheels p, on saidspindles, shaft 1, sprocket-wheels p on thesame, chains S, shafts H J, means for revolving the shaft H,oppositely-inclined pulleys s s, on said shafts H J, pulleys ti, onshafts I J, and the chain 1, substantially as set forth.

3. The rollers A B O D E and their pinions a b c d e, pinion 0 having asliding movement on its shaft, the feeding and stretching wheels G G,and devices for driving said wheels from the roller D, substantially asset forth.

4. The combination of the gudgeonblocks 0, having upward-extending gudgeons O, with the head-pieces Q, pivoted on said gudgeons, set-screw Z,vertically-adjustable journal-plates It R, secured to the ends of saidhead-pieces, and the stretching and feeding wheels G G, held to rotatein said journalplates.

5. The combination, with the feeding and stretching wheels G G, therollers A B C D E, and means for revolving the same, of the regulating-roller F, supports f in which the shaft of said roller is journaled,pinion shaft L, shaft K, pinion k thereon meshing with pinion 7t", shaftH, sprocket-wheels q q, and chain H, for connecting shaft H with theshaft of the roller D, means for revolving the wheels G G from shaft H,the cone-pulleys w w on said shafts H K, and a belt connecting saidpulleys, substantially as set forth.

6. The feeding and stretching wheel G, composed of the conical casting gsegmental plates 1 and spring 9*", the plates 9 being formed with arms kIn", thelatter having knobs it in combination with the cone-nut j andthe adj Listing-nut j", substantially as set forth.

'7. The combination, with the cone 9 plate 5/", and segmental plates 9,having arms 70 held to slide between said cone and plate, of thecone-nut j and an adjusting-nut, substant-ially as set forth.

8. The segment-plates formed with a series of steps having serrations orteeth g i, and arms k, in combination with the cone 9', plate 9,cone-nut j, and an adjusting-nunj, substantially as set forth.

9. The combination, with the obliquely-arranged stretching and feedingwheels G G and means for rotating the same, of the guiderollcr D, itsrings D means for adjusting said rings toward or from each other, andmeans for revolving said roller D, substantially as set forth.

10. The cone-nut j formed with the notches e, in combination with theadjusting-nut 3'', provided with the friction-pawl e substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

11. The guide-roller D, composed of the slats d, cut away to form slots01 and rims D formed with the arms h and collar h and circumferentialgroove ha, in combination with the nuts h, yolres h, and the adjustingright and left hand screw-shaft D arranged to operate substantially asand for the purposes set forth.

H. A. WEsT, O. Snnewrcrr.

